snoozee

What is the lump sum in total? My house rebuild include lightning conductors, LEW submissions, cost me around 60k. i don’t have an itemised breakdown of the installation but for yours, the electrician will still need to remove existing wires and such. Generally for A&A and reconstruction, it’s more difficult to run pipes and cables as the columns and beams are in the way. also all cables must be run all the way to the DB so the cables length is longer than in a single storey apartment. While electrical cables can be joined, network cables must be done in a single continuous cable else performance will be affected. for splitting DB, I would suggest don’t bother. The house isn’t that big to warrant for this and you will restrict your furniture layout as well. suggest you do the following if you have not planned for them 32A isolator for electrical car charger additional network points for all rooms network points for CCTV if you intend to use POE CCTVs plan your two way switches especially for staircases or corridors Electrical and network cable for video doorbell/Intercom if you intend to get one if you are going to use induction cooker, plan for a 32A point instead of 13A/20A standby a 32A isolator at the attic for PV panels for lighting fixtures, can order from China. I bought all my lights online for my electrician workers to install

Nope. Have sliding glass doors as well to close up at night, keep out the rain and when need to turn on aircon. sliding glass doors are 4 panels on 2 tracks and the grilles has its own frame outside. From the photo I posted, you can see the black tracks for the glass doors near the bottom just after the cement screed flooring

it depends on how much work needs to be done and where you want to install the 2nd toilet. the toilets on upper storey needs to channel the waste down to lower storey and into the waste/sewer pipes. so if your 2nd toilet isn't that far from the current one, you can possibly join back the waste pipe for this new toilet to the existing one for the original toilet. if there's beams in the way, you may have to drop the pipes a bit lower to clear the beams and later use plaster board to box up or hide these pipes inside the false ceiling. another option is to run a new down pipe to connect to the first storey and then add new waste pipe inside the first storey floor and connect it to the IC for your house. this option would be more expensive since you need to hack the first storey floor and IC to connect the new waste pipe. do also note that all toilets waste pipes need to be vented. so you would most likely need to add a vent pipe which punches through the roof for this new toilet unless you can join the vent pipe to the existing main vent pipe somehow.

not a fan of smart switches as they use electricity 24/7 so waste of electricity when I can just walk a few steps to turn on/off the lights/fans/appliances. but if you want to do them get the electrician to pull neutral wire for all the switch sockets. while there are smart switches which doesn't need the neutral wire, I see online that many people complaining that those without neutral wires fail after sometime with the socket shorted and burnt. it is a fire harzard when this happens

there's other grilles design to choose from. this particular one has an additional frame in between each panel for the pull handle hence adding to the bulk. also the bars in between is quite thick which isn't pleasing to the eye. of cos one man's meat is another man's poison. as the grilles are customised to each doorway, you can choose the materials and design as well as the swing directions. there's no fixed rule that all the grilles have to be bifold and open to one side. you can also split the grille into 2 such that 2 panels open to each side. if i was the house owner of the photo example, i would have asked for the grilles to be swung open the other side (left instead of right) and the entire panels can be swung 180 degrees such that all the panels are flat against the wall on the left. with current design, the grilles block the shoe cabinet when open which is bad design as the thought process wasn't done properly on the usage. just to share an example of my grilles, I had requested for a split 4 panels design so the lock is in the middle and each side has 2 panels. but I has requested for different swing directions for both sides. on the left side, it is the "normal" swing where the end position is at 90 degrees. but for the right side, i had opposite swing such that after opening, i can flush the 2 grilles flat to the wall instead of a 90 degrees protrusion. this will effectively remove the obstruction of having the grilles stuck at 90 degrees. but the downside of this design is that both panels need to be unlatched in order to swing out the grilles as opposed to just needing to unlock/unlatch one panel. also, by choosing thinner rods (with a steel rod insert), the grilles looks less intimidating and reduces the bulk. Also I have sliding doors instead of bifold doors so my opening is always limited to 50 percent as i only have 2 tracks (plus 1 frame for grilles). if you want to do bifold doors, my advise is to do one with bottom track and rollers as well. the bifold door is heavy and if just supported by top hung tracks, it may sag over time or rollers fail and eventually give you problems.

having a pool isn't just having the hole in the ground. you still need to cater for space for the balancing tank, water pump, etc. while you can just get a contractor to throw soil inside the pool to cover it up, you also need to get professionals in to dismantle all the ancillary fittings if you want to reclaim the space.

While Sg is relatively safe, one can’t be complacent. You heard about overseas gangs coming to Sg to break into landed houses? if you want more security, just install the grilles. Else you can also get services from security companies which will install motion sensors within the house and trigger alarms back at their HQ if there’s any break in. Downside is you need to activate and deactivate it daily else can’t work Just putting cctv in plain sight can act as a deterrent. But if the burglar manages to take away the recorder or destroy it, then it is as good as nothing. for me I just install grilles. Better to do it at the start rather than retrofit later which would be problematic.

There are also bifold with tracks. My in-laws has a tracked bifold gate and it’s been around for more than 10 years with not much issues. cant comment on mine as mine installed for less than one year. But so far so good

you can choose sliding gate track is an inverted semi-circle so that the rollers can roll on the track. then won't have the debris issue. bifold gates can also use same type of tracks or be trackless. if you want trackless sliding gate, you will need to make sure you have enough width so that there is enough space for the gate's counterweight at the end. these are cantilevered gates which come with/without a roller/wheel with no tracks.

is toilet ensuite? even if if it a shared toilet within the house, you can leave the toilet door open to let it air after using.

Singapore’s weather is so humid so how much can you dehumidify? You may be better off just leaving the toilet door open and let it air through the room windows. in toilets, you can have shaver points installed. 13A sockets might be able to be installed if the socket is far enough from the water source. I don’t have the Singapore standards documents on electrical installations but the international one which we take reference to for most of our standards shows the zones and distance from water sources where power points can be installed. But I’m not sure if Singapore followed this particular standard or not so it is best you check with your electrician.

don't forget that the extractor fan should be linked to a duct which extracts the air to outside the house. else it will be useless as the air will still remain within the toilet. so you will need to drop your ceiling more or do a box up for the ducting to conceal it. having the fan linked to lights means you need to leave the lights and fan on after you finish your business else you can extract the air. having the fan on a separate switch will give you the risk of forgetting to turn it off later on and end up wasting electricity.

my lift shaft is 1550 x 1500. in fact most of the suppliers i contacted are ok with this size. even one of the supplier's i contacted had a specification of min overhead requirement of 3300. how come your architect designed the attic level to be so low? like i mentioned, your lift shaft can protrude out of the envelope by a bit as long as URA approves it. no experience on platform lifts but my wife's auntie has one installed in her house (retrofit) and it's just slow. also have to be careful of the gap at the sides. came across Aritco when i was researching on lifts some years ago but never heard of the other company.

how much more overhead do you need? if 10 or 20cm, can get your architect to write in for waiver such that only your lift shaft is outside the envelope. URA will approve on a case by case basis. just FYI, even though the envelope control guidelines indicated a 45 degrees pitch (front and back) for the attic, i've seen a house which has a part (about 2m wide) of the front attic protruding out of the envelope such that the whole part is actually flat and at the same height of the main flat roof. platform lifts are slow. also there is no lift car for platform lift so if you have young children at home, it would be a bit dangerous as their fingers or toes may get caught in the gap between the platform and the lift shaft. hydraulic lifts were known to be prone to leakage after years of usage. not sure whether this is still the case nowadays but i didn't want to take the chance of leaks down the road. talk to the lift suppliers on what is the minimum overhead required. if the catalogue states 3500, sometimes they can allow for something lower like 3350 or 3400. so with a slightly reduced overhead, you can have your lift shaft and ceiling protruding out of the envelope. assuming your shaft ceiling needs 200mm thick concrete ceiling, after factoring in 100mm for the hoisting hook (if you need one), you will just be 200mm outside the envelope if your minimum overhead is 3400. your architect should know how to deal with this kind of situation unless he/she is not experience enough.

lasting is one thing. maintenance is another. i've seen retractable awnings from other houses around my area which are at least 10 years old. but due to the lack of maintenance, there are unsightly algae/moss on the awnings. how many awnings to put depends on the model of the awning. there is a maximum span so if your length is too long, you will have to break it up into 2 or more awnings in order to cover the length you require.

try to have natural ventilation for all toilets if possible. i think the most common brand is KDK

You can check BOA website for list of architectural firms. An architectural firm will have at least one registered architect working for the firm. If you can’t find the company name in the list means the company is not an architectural firm at all. PE is the professional engineer who will design the structure of the house. The fees should include this design service as well as them doing the submissions to authorities. architect fees can range quite a bit. It depends on how famous the firm is as well as the scope of work required of the architect for the project. So fees can be below 100k or more than 100k for an inter terrace.

Is your consultants firm a registered architectural firm? you are rebuilding an entire house and even though a PE can submit the plans to the authorities (URA, BCA, etc) the PE may not have the full knowledge of the regulations on designing and planning for a house. A PE would charge around 20k for his role in designing the structure for a house and coordinating with the submissions to BCA, LTA, PUB, etc. so assuming the 40k quote includes the PE fees, see how much is left for the architect (if any) and the profit margin of the consultant. maybe your consultant will get a freelance architect to design your house for a fee but don’t expect anything fancy in the design since this architect would most probably use back an existing design and adjust it to your site dimensions. most IDs would not have knowledge of landed housing and the requirements. So they may suggest things which can’t conform to regulations. If you yourself don’t have the knowledge and you don’t have a proper architect to advise you, your house may end up not in adherence to regulations and you may have issues obtaining TOP after construction is finished. I would suggest you either go to an architectural firm to work on your project or check with your consultancy firm on whether there would be an architect involved in your project or not. If there is, get the name and registration number of the architect to check on BOA website to confirm. building a house costs a lot of money and some money can’t be saved. The worst thing you want to happen is to start off in the wrong foot and this will end up costing you more than what you though you could have saved.

if your plans indicate a lift and lift shaft, you will need to put in the lift for TOP. if you provision for space, then there shouldn't be any indication of lift and lift shaft and that area should just be a normal floor slab without walls, etc. your architect should know about this. do note that if you choose to add the lift after you obtain WP, you also will need to resubmit again and pay the full fees to URA. there's a few taiwan lift suppliers in Singapore. ken-jo, eletec, VM elevators, lift works. there's another company Gylet but i'm not sure where they source their lifts from. normally lift shaft is main contractor's scope of work. unless you want glass lift shaft then the lift supplier may get their own contractor to built the shaft.

has your plans been submitted and approved by URA and BCA? if the above is yes, then it is not a question of whether to install now or not. you MUST install the lift as this is required for TOP. if you do not want to install the lift now, your QPs will need to remove the lift from the plans and resubmit to URA and BCA. if you already had received a WP from URA, then you need to pay the $6420 for the amendment. normally lift will be part of the construction cost and parked under the main contractor. if you want to provide this yourself, you need to work out something with your main contractor. usually there is a clause in construction contracts which allows the main contractor to collect a percentage in fees as "profit in attendance" for works done by nominated subcons. so assuming your lift costs 60k and your main contractor's profit in attendance is 10 percent, it means you need to pay your main contractor 6k to allow your lift subcon to go on site to install the lift. I shan't share my lift contractor as the boss gave me a lot of problems during the construction. annual maintenance is about 2k. other companies which i gotten a quote has similar annual maintenance cost ranging between 2k and 3k. mine is a concreate lift shaft so no maintenance needed. the lift company performs routine servicing every month and feedback from the workers is that the lift model I got is quite reliable and the company had actually installed more than 500 of such lifts in Singapore.

you need to decide at the start on whether you want a lift as the design of the house has to be worked around the lift shaft. if you don't do it now, you still need to cater for space to allow for installation in future. not to mention the mess that will happen when you need to hack the floor for the lift to go through. after hacking the floor, you still need to incur cost to fix back the flooring after the lift is installed. if you have no plans to sell the house in future, then why bother about the resale value? built what you need for your own use now. a lift comes in handy when there is a need to move heavy or bulky things up several floors. also if you have old folks visiting, it would be good for them to use the lift as well if you intend to show them around your house. the price for traction lifts will range from cheapest (made in china) to most expensive (made in europe). i got a taiwan lift as their technology seems to be the best/stable at the price point which is being offered. try to avoid china lifts for now even though they can be quite cheap. I got a quote of less than 40k for a china lift 3 years ago. tried asking for quotes from hitachi/mitsubishi lift and they can't be bothered with me and just gave me a verbal estimate of 50k over the phone. those big names like schindler or kone will cost you a bomb. also, pricing aside, you also need to take into account the technical specifications of the lift. the URA envelope control allows for 3.5m as the height of the attic. of cos you can increase this height by building your lower storey with a lower floor to floor height. why I'm highlighting this is that many lifts will specify a overhead of 3.3m or 3.4m which will cause you problems with the lift shaft ceiling if you are building an attic storey with 3.5m floor to roof height. Your lift shaft will need to have a ceiling as well and if the ceiling is 200mm thick, you will have no room to spare if your overhead requirements is 3.3m or 3.4m. basically I got quotes (install and annual maintenance) and technical specifications from various suppliers before deciding on which supplier to work with.

it's not illegal but your neighbor will not be happy that your rain water is being directed to their house. the worst thing that can happen is to be at loggerheads with your immediate neighbour. retractable awnings shouldn't need to involve a PE. if needed, the supplier's own PE should be doing the design and calculation instead of you engaging one directly.

PE definitely. your box culvert needs to be designed by a PE and submitted to the various authorities. later on a post-con survey also needs to be done as well to submit to authorities. if your meter box is setback enough for the gate to clear, then shouldn't be an issue. normally the meter box is built right up to the boundary. but if your gate is going to be at the boundary, then your meter box and boundary wall needs to be set back instead so that your gate track can be installed. also the meter box electrical compartment is locked and water compartment is latched. not sure if there's any regulations on locking of water compartment but if you are concerned about this, maybe install a lock on the water compartment door as well.

don't forget the cost of PUB (1K+) and the licensed plumber cost for shifting the water meter as well. you also need to factor in the costs of laying new incoming cables from your new meter box to your main DB inside the house. excavation of land to put in the new underground pipes. running of new cables from main DB to meter box for your motorised gate and gate pillar lights. if you have video door bell, then also need to run the appropriate power cables and communications cables from inside the house to your meter box. depending on your video doorbell system, you may need another junction box near/on the meter box to install the necessary transformer and/or control boxes for your video doorbell. You need to inform NLT on the shifting of the fiber cable as well and have them shift it for you first. else pay 1k+ for them to rerun a new fiber from the outside distribution point to your new meter box and your own contractor has to run a new fiber cable from the meter box to the termination point inside your house. also there is the cost of the new main gate (with swing/sliding gate mechanism) and side gate (if you have separate one) as well as the re-laying of floor tiles for your driveway. so in total, you are looking at a total cost of maybe 30k and up for the entire scope of work for shifting the main access. my advise is for you to work out the minor details like auto-gate and video doorbell especially on their wiring requirements first. cos if you don't nail down the wiring requirements at the start, you can't determine how many underground pipes you need to run and how many pipe conduits you need to place inside the meterbox and you will have problems retrofitting these in future without the conduits in place. Just to share, see how many pipe conduits I have from the house going into the meter box.

Well, it’s up to you to negotiate with your builder. from next month onwards, Covid-19 swab test is not longer free for workers. So this will be factored into your overall cost as well. premix will cost more then normal cement and sand DIY mixing on site